NEW YORK | Independence Plaza Tower | 1,090 FT | 72 FLOORS

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

the tower will get a height chop and everyone will walk away with their version of a win, but grumbling. bet.

If anything, it could get larger, given that the previous version was before City of Yes went into effect. That could also mean a bulkier building, which nobody wants. A height cut is always possible with any building, so that's saying nothing. Will this particular building get a height cut? Doesn't seem likely.

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...plaza-cost-waiting-build-new-tower-rises

At Tribeca’s Independence Plaza, the cost of waiting to build rises


AARON ELSTEIN
May 30, 2025

The owners of Independence Plaza in Tribeca have big plans: developing a 1 million-square-foot tower that would add about 900 apartments to the 1,300-unit complex.

That ambitious project got sent back to the drawing board last year, however, after Stellar Management, which owns the property with Vornado Realty Trust, said it would examine opportunities created by the zoning changes enacted under the mayor’s City of Yes plan. But the cost of waiting is rising in tandem with interest rates, while the value of Independence Plaza is falling.

Vornado and Stellar’s waiting cost is slated to rise by at least $15 million later this year. That’s how much in additional interest expense they’re expected to pay after the $675 million mortgage for Independence Plaza is refinanced, a transaction expected to close June 16, Fitch Ratings said in a new report. The new mortgage would carry a shorter term than the existing $675 million loan – five years instead of seven – and its 6.4% interest rate is higher than the maturing loan’s 4.25%. Vornado and Stellar put up a $15 million down payment for the mortgage, Fitch said; they extracted $113 million in cash when they refinanced Independence Plaza in 2018.

Independence Plaza was developed in 1974 under the state and federal program Mitchell Lama, which granted developers low-cost mortgages and other incentives on the condition that apartments remain affordable until the mortgage was paid off. Independence Plaza left Mitchell Lama in 2004, one of several to do so, and today 60% of its units are market rate and rent at an average of $6,000 per month, Fitch said. A fifth are Section 8 housing, for which the federal government pays 70% of the rent.

The remaining 20% fall under the city’s landlord assistance program. Rents in these units rise at the rates determined by the Rent Guidelines Board, plus an additional 1%. LAP units can be passed on to family members, Fitch said, so they become market-rate only in the event there’s nobody in the family to inherit a Tribeca apartment.

Vornado and Stellar plan to develop more apartments. In late 2023 executives from both companies met with Manhattan Community Board 1 to describe their vision for a 940-foot tower that they said can be developed “as of right,” meaning it doesn’t require a government review.

They laid out plans for improving streetscapes and bringing in new stores. However, a spokesman for Stellar told the Tribeca Citizen in December that the project is on hold due to “significant changes” to city and state housing policy. Thanks to City of Yes, it may be possible for developers to build a taller tower.

Vornado declined to comment, and Stellar did not comment by press time.

At the community board meeting, City Councilman Christopher Marte declared he opposed the project but his influence is limited if the project indeed is not subject to the city’s uniform land-use review procedure, or ULURP. Community board members were skeptical of the developers’ plans, which envisioned a new building more than double the height of Independence Plaza’s three 39-story towers.

“Do not give us more retail,” said one board member, who suggested Vornado and Stellar pay for a library or hospital instead. “You need to give [us] something really big so we know you’re honest about contributing to the community.”

[NYguy]

https://www.multihousingnews.com/vornado-jv-lands-675m-for-luxury-manhattan-community/

Vornado JV Closes on $675M for Luxury Manhattan Community
The owners plan to build a 900-unit tower at the site.


By Maria Maruta
June 6, 2025

Vornado Realty Trust and Stellar Management have completed the $675 million refinancing of Independence Plaza, a 1,328-unit luxury residential property in the Manhattan’s Tribeca submarket. The former holds a 50.1 percent interest in the asset.

The CMBS note replaces a previous $675 million loan issued in 2018 by co-funders Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Deutsche Bank that was scheduled to mature in July. The five-year financing has a fixed rate of 5.84 percent and will mature in June 2030.

The property’s value has dropped 11 percent since 2018, to $1.2 billion, partly due to the financial challenges of managing rent-regulated units, which make up 40 percent of the community, Crain’s New York Business reported.

Vornado and Stellar plan to expand Independence Plaza with a 940-foot tower, which will enclose approximately 900 apartments, Crain’s also wrote. The project is currently on hold due to recent zoning changes under the City of Yes initiative.

[NYguy]

https://www.pincusco.com/vornado-stellar...ild-976-new-units-at-independence-plaza/

Vornado, Stellar file formal application to build 976 new units at Independence Plaza










May 14, 2026

[ChiND]

This looks lame. Hopefully, the actual design has a crown and some distinctive elements.

[The New York Lion]

Originally Posted by ChiND

This looks lame. Hopefully, the actual design has a crown and some distinctive elements.

I'm just glad it has height.

1,090 feet is no joke.

Hopefully is has a limestone exterior.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by The New York Lion

I'm just glad it has height.

1,090 feet is no joke.

Hopefully is has a limestone exterior.

This has the potential to have blockbuster sales, so hopefully, Vornado builds something worthy of the site.

[ChiND]

According to Pincus, Adjmi is the architect. That's good news.

[Crawford]

A 1,090 ft. Adjmi-designed tower has the potential to be amazing.

[BK1985]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Hopefully Mamdani ignores the NIMBYs and this gets built to full height.

I believe it’s mostly as of right.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by Crawford

A 1,090 ft. Adjmi-designed tower has the potential to be amazing.

I agree.

[NYguy]

We did get a look at some street level renderings, though they could be dated....

Originally Posted by NYguy;10103786[IMG

[NYguy]

A little more info....

[NYguy]

I like version B better, for better visualization of the crown…








https://tribecacitizen.com/2026/05/14/tower-plans-have-begun-for-independence-plaza/

Tower plans have begun for Independence Plaza


May 14, 2026

planning an additional tower for Independence Plaza for years, since 2018, have filed their plans with the Department of City Planning for an environmental review. The proposal sets out to explore the maximum allowable bulk for the site, which would include a 1090-foot, 72-story tower with 976 units. (The Commercial Observer caught the filings first; I caught up with an email to the developers’ press contact.)

The proposal assumes that approvals would be complete by mid-2027, demolition would take six months, and construction would begin by early 2028 with a 48-month construction period — getting us to 2032.

The tower would be residential, but there would be three additional buildings built to the edge of the property that are 85-feet tall to a setback, then rising again to 125 feet. The tower would be in line with Jay Street. The total is 1,110,943 zoning square feet on the development site. The 45 units currently on the site in the townhouses would be demolished and rebuilt elsewhere on the property.

The proposal says that 251 units of affordable housing would be provided under a zoning program called Universal Affordability Preference, which permits a height increase in exchange — from what I can tell it got them an additional 2 FAR, or 20 percent more height. But the affordable housing component has not been determined yet — it could be on site, off site, new construction, substantial rehabilitation or preservation of affordable units.

The parcel they are developing is called Parcel 3C, a designation left over from when those superblocks were first created in the late 1960s. It includes the southern-most tower at Independence Plaza, 310 Greenwich. (The three towers together have 1300 units.)

both cases, the streetscape proposal would eliminate the existing recesses and arcades, mechanical vents and the parking entrance, which would be relocated to Harrison from Greenwich.

“The added density is consistent with the intent of the large-scale residential development [created in 1971] and current City goals to incentivize new housing for New Yorkers,” the proposal reads. “The Proposed Project is compatible with the surrounding context. The proposed contextual street walls along Greenwich Street are consistent with the loft buildings in the Tribeca West Historic District across the street to the east, and the proposed tower is consistent with the taller towers of Lower Manhattan.”

A spokesperson added: “We are proposing a modification to unlock the maximum amount of residential floor area allowed under the site’s current zoning to help the Mamdani Administration meet its goals of building as much housing as possible. We look forward to continuing to work with residents, neighbors and key stakeholders in the months ahead to ensure this project reflects the needs of both the city and the people that live and work here.”

Independence Plaza was planned as a large-scale residential development (LSRD) under a series of approvals in 1971 by the NYC Planning Commission, the (long gone) Board of Estimate and the Board of Standards and Appeals, allowing for up to 12 FAR. Completed in 1975, the three high-rise residential towers and townhouse-style rental buildings included 1,328 apartments but were not developed to the full FAR potential, leaving over 600,000 square feet remaining.

Because of that original zoning, the development proposal does not have to go through the city’s land use review process, but it does have to go through environmental review, the City Environmental Quality Review.

The spokesperson for the development team added that this is still in the early planning phases to determine the best use of the allowable space and has not yet determined the size and scope of any new development. What it has determined is the maximum possible building envelope for the site, which is the 1,090-foot building.

[ChiND]

This seems like it will be like Adjmi’s NOMAD tower: a box but with an intricate facade. Not great but not bad either.

[NYguy]

I am SHOCKED by this news.......


https://www.tribecatrib.com/content/oppo...ion-against-1090-feet-tower-plan-tribeca

Opponents 'Foresee Litigation' Against a 1,090-Feet Tower Plan for Tribeca





By CARL GLASSMAN
May. 20, 2026

Developers of a proposed supertall residential building in Tribeca have revealed a revised proposal for a tower even taller than the one they previously showed—and that opponents have been bracing to fight.

Rising 1,090-feet, the tower would be located within the Independence Plaza complex, opposite Jay Street and between 310 Greenwich Street, the southernmost tower, and Harrison Street. Independence Plaza owners Stellar Management and Vornado Realty Trust stunned many in the community in November 2023 when they talked of a 900-foot-tall building. If built, this tower would nearly triple the height of Independence Plaza’s three 374-foot buildings. A maximum of 1,391 apartments would be built, according to the application.

Along with the supertall tower, new storefronts and two 125-feet-high residential buildings (with 85-feet setbacks) would face Greenwich Street, between Jay and Harrison. Another residential building, 125-feet high, would be built on the west side of the lot. The new construction would surround the federal-era townhouse on three sides. The number of parking spaces in the garage would remain the same, with an entrance only on Harrison Street.

Vornado and Stellar say the project is “as of right” and therefore can sidestep the city’s rigorous public review process, known as ULURP. That process includes approval by the City Council where local Councilman Christopher Marte, who opposes the project, could influence the vote.

According to the developers, the southern parcel of Independence Plaza (south of Harrison Street) was not fully developed to its zoning maximum. And because there is no needed zoning change request or new waivers needed, it is not considered a Large Scale Residential Development (LSRD), which would trigger the higher-level review. An Environmental Impact Statement, however, is still required.

“We are still confident that this is an LSRD and they would have to go through a ULURP,” Marte told the Trib.

“Throughout that process,” he added, “we’re going to make sure that they don’t take any shortcuts or use any loopholes to sidestep the impact that we know a development like that will cause.”

“We do foresee litigation,” said Stephanie Kelemen, president of Community First Development Coalition (CFDC), a group formed after the project was first announced. “We’ve retained a litigator. I’m a litigator and we have another litigator on the board. We’re actively developing our legal theories, especially with the paperwork that was just filed, which we think gives us a new legal hook potentially to say why this project cannot be approved absent ULURP—or not at all in its current form.”

The developers say they will be providing 251 apartments for low- and moderate-income tenants in order to take advantage of the city’s Uniform Affordability Preference Program. That program would allow them to add 195,000 square feet to their building (from a Floor Area Ratio or FAR of 10 to 12), according to the developers.

They say in their application that they have yet to decide whether those tenants will be housed on site or off. (The below-market apartments could be located anywhere in Community Board 1, or within 1.5 miles of Independence Plaza.)

[mrnyc]

hopefully there is a 'judge quick draw mcgraw' around to dismiss their meddling --

[UrbanImpact]

NIMBYs who live next to the tallest building in the USA

[NYguy]

^ In all of New York, they have nothing better to do.

[BK1985]

Originally Posted by NYguy

I think I prefer the slab schematic since it creates a better space for the central plaza/parklet